Lowell Housing Authority official: I was fired for cooperating with probe

By Lyle Moran, lmoran@lowellsun.com

Updated:
02/09/2013 06:35:04 AM EST

LOWELL -- In the midst of multiple, ongoing government investigations into the Lowell Housing Authority's no-bid renovations of 132 units at North Common Village, as well as other procurement issues at the agency, the LHA has terminated its chief procurement officer.

The terminated employee, John Romano, alleges that the primary reason LHA Executive Director Gary Wallace fired him Thursday is his cooperation with government investigators probing the LHA.

Romano said he has assisted officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Inspector General's Office, which is reviewing the LHA's handling of capital projects from 2008 onward, including the North Common Village work.

Two officials from the HUD Inspector General's Office have been at the LHA the last four months or so, compiling information about the LHA, and have begun audit work after an initial survey to identify any potential problems, he said.

Romano -- who was not part of or around for the LHA's decision to bypass seeking bids for the North Common project and the supplies for it -- also said he has recently spoken about the LHA's past procurement issues with state Inspector General Glenn Cunha's Office.

The state Inspector General's Office is reviewing procurement, wage compliance and nepotism, among other issues, at the LHA during both the North Common project and other projects, Romano said.

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"The main reason they terminated me is they don't view me as part of the team because I cooperate with the HUD IG and have spoken with the Inspector General's office about past problems with procurement," Romano, 51, told The Sun.

Romano, who was also serving as the agency's auditor and compliance officer when fired, stressed that everything he has shared with investigators he had previously shared with top LHA brass.

He became the official top procurement officer last year and was an at-will employee hired in 2009 who was paid about $70,000 annually.

Both LHA board Chairwoman Kristin Ross-Sitcawich and member Michael Zaim declined to comment on a personnel matter.

In a letter Wallace wrote to Romano on Thursday, Wallace said he was firing Romano "in light of your recent activities," but he did not identify those actions in the letter, which The Sun obtained.

Before his termination, Romano was put on paid leave beginning last Monday. He said he was put on leave just days after a meeting the prior week with Wallace, Assistant Executive Director Mary Ann Maciejewski and Chief Financial Officer Adam Garvey.

Romano said he was not given a reason for being putting on paid leave or for his termination, but believes the actions were taken because he told the LHA's top executives they needed to be more forthcoming with the investigating agencies.

Romano said he talked with Wallace, Maciejewski and Garvey about Wallace not providing Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office with all the information the LHA had about the North Common Village renovations.

"We are just not forthcoming with the information," Romano said. "I told them, 'Let's roll back the clock, fall on the sword and show these guys what we found.'

"I also said, 'Let's be transparent with the board so they are not blindsided when the investigators release their findings,'" Romano added. "Gary and Mary Ann took it very personally."

The Sun has previously reported the AG is investigating whether the LHA violated the state's public-construction bidding laws when it spent $6 million completely rehabbing 132 North Common units without advertising for bids or issuing any contracts for the work.

The LHA primarily turned to local, union labor to complete the work.

The Attorney General's Office declined to comment.

The HUD Inspector General's Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Jack Meyers, a spokesman for the state Inspector General's Office, declined to comment Friday.

Romano was hired by the LHA to help with federal stimulus compliance work in spring 2009. In the summer of 2010, Wallace assigned Romano to help diagnosis issues with procurement and related matters within the authority, and to work to correct them.

Among the problems he identified were that the LHA was not going out to bid when it should have done so and was not seeking quotes for services or supplies when it should have.

Romano said top LHA officials were frustrated with him because he told them at the recent meeting that the authority had made 150 degrees of improvement in terms of procurement issues, but had another 30 degrees to go, beginning at the top.

"I said, 'If we are serious about getting fully compliant, we need to do a couple more things, and it starts at the executive level,'" Romano said. "I laid out a few recent examples of things we needed to stop doing, and they took exception to every one."

Romano has requested the opportunity to address the LHA board at its next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday at 5 p.m., to speak about his termination and defend himself.

"I intend to walk them through what led up to my termination and ask they hire me back to finish the job," Romano said.

Ross-Sitcawich said Romano would be given a chance to speak to the board, like all members of the public, if he registers in advance.

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